I can’t believe it’s still raining here in June…I shouldn’t have to wear a jacket in summer! But I don’t mind too much; rain can be very calming. But anyway, as requested, I will be using today to talk about the Indonesian spirit queen Nyai Roro Kidul! You know what that means? New Table of Contents section!
Appearing in Indonesian mythology, the spirit queen Nyai Roro Kidul is described as a beautiful woman who resembles a mermaid, having the lower body of a fish or snake. She reportedly claims the lives of those who bathe on the beach, but she is said to prefer taking away the souls of younger men. Nyai Roro Kidul is also said to be in constant control of the waves of the Indian Ocean (she is its queen, after all…), within which she has made her home. She was said to be able to change her shape several times a day, and though some describe her as being an older woman, she was said to transform into a young maiden during a full moon.
Presumably around the 16th century, prince Panembahan Senopati desired to establish a new kingdom against the overlordship of the Muslim state Pajang. In order to do this, he decided to undergo abstinence while meditating on the beach. His meditation caused a powerful, supernatural phenomenon that menaced the undersea kingdom ruled Nyai Roro Kidul, and she rose from the waves to put a stop to its source once and for all. But upon seeing the handsome prince, Kidul fell in love with him. Learning of his struggles to establish a new kingdom, she offered to help the prince in his political efforts in return for ceasing his mediation. Upon the establishment of the kingdom, Kidul became its spiritual protector, as well as the wife of the prince. She would go on to become the consort of all of the prince’s successors.
There’s more than one story as to how Nyai Roro Kidul came into being, so I’ll talk about a couple of them here. According to the first, the king of Pajang once had a very beautiful daughter named Kadita, and an equally beautiful wife. However, the other women of the palace became quite envious of the two’s appearances, so much so that they decided to use magic in order to make them ugly. Casting their spell, Kadita and her mother were made filthy and hideous, which enraged the king. He had them forced out of the palace, believing that they would somehow bring about bad luck to the kingdom.
Though her mother died during the journey, Kadita wandered in great sadness for many days until she came upon the shore of the Indian Ocean. There, she received a vision that instructed her to plunge into the waves of the ocean at midnight if she wanted to be rid of her curse. In doing so, not only did she shed off her unjustly obtained ugliness, but became the spirit-queen Nyai Roro Kidul in the process. Some argue that her marriage to the prince Senopati was her way to get back at her father for his cruelty.
The other story is a little different. The king was instead unmarried, and planned to retire soon. However, it was forbidden for his daughter Kadita to rule as a lone queen, and as she was without child, the king decided to find himself a wife. He did so, and Kadita’s new step-mother soon became pregnant. However, she forced the king to decide who would become queen: herself, or Kadita. If Kadita became queen, the king’s new wife would leave him. If the prince’s wife became queen, Kadita would be banished from the kingdom. The only solution that the king could think of was hiring a shaman to cast a spell on his daughter, so that she would become afflicted with a disgusting skin disease and subsequently be banned from the kingdom. It pained the king greatly to see her daughter leave, though she would of course go on to become Nyai Roro Kidul by jumping into the Indian Ocean, which would rid her of the curse.
A third version of the story actually has Kadita’s stepmother as the one who hires the shaman, and when the king hears of his daughter’s illness, he hires many physicians to aid her. However, it is quickly determined the cause of the problem is magical, and the king’s wife wanted to get her evicted, claiming she would bring bad luck. Not wanting to ruin his daughter’s good name, the king sends her from the palace in secret.
